First general election – turning point in Vietnam’s revolution

The successful first general election on January 6, 1946 went down in history of Vietnam’s revolution as a turning point, featuring the country as an independent state and a people’s democratic state - the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and Africa, said National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the first general election, the NA Chairman affirmed that the event represented the symbol of the national will and strength.

National Asembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung__Photo: VNA

After nearly one century fighting for national independence, Vietnamese people rose out of the colonised status and became citizens of an independent state who enjoyed the right to elect their own National Assembly representing their will and aspirations.

The National Assembly became the most powerful state body which represents people to decide issues related to the nation’s destiny, he stated.

He attributed the success of the event to the sound decision of the Party and the late President Ho Chi Minh, who determined that it was a ripe time for people to decide their own fortune.

With that decision, the whole people’s strength and the great national unity were rallied to build up the first people’s democratic state and Vietnam was announced worldwide as an independent state with its operation fully aided by executive and judicial bodies, he added.

Therefore, “the August Revolution and the then first general election created the huge impact and extended to a national liberation movement and a people’s democratic movement in the region and the world at large,” affirmed Chairman Hung.

Regarding experience learnt from the organisation of the first general election, the NA Chairman attributed the success of the event to the strength and support of the local populace.

According to him, this was a great political event responded by people with the rate of participating voters reaching nearly 90 percent, and 333 deputies were elected across the country.

Referring to the outstanding accomplishments made by the legislative body and its contributions to the country’s achievements during the 30-year reform, Chairman Hung said that the triumph of the first National Assembly was the promulgation of the 1946 Constitution whose value remains today.

During the two resistance wars against French and US forces, the NA had made decisions on issues of extreme importance, contributing to gaining the national reunification and then rebuilding efforts.

After 30 years of renewal, parliamentary diplomacy has been promoted, helping increase the position and role of the Vietnamese NA and the nation at large in the international arena.

The legislative body has tightened its bilateral external relations, set up ties with parliaments of many countries over the world.

As a member of many inter-parliamentary organisations, the Vietnamese NA has contributed to these forums’ effective operations and collaboration with initiatives and constructive recommendations, which has, in return, benefited the nation-building and defence.

The body has also hosted a number of important events, including the 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union General Assembly in March 2015 – an important premise of the World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, which had important contributions to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

During the nation’s international integration, the NA has ratified agreements and international treaties and realised them in the law making process.

It has held a decisive role in the country’s big policies related to reforming the economy, perfecting the market economy institutions, developing science, education and culture, and dealing with climate change and security threats.

Chairman Hung said that after 70 years of formation and development, the NA has grown robustly, fulfilling soundly its function as the people’s highest representative body and the most powerful state body of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

It has well done its law-making task through amending the Constitution five times, especially the 2013 Constitution. These Constitutions provided a firm foundation and long-term orientations for the country to enter the next stage of development, he added.-(VNA)